1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a flexible glass run for a vehicle door opening and, more particularly, to a flexible glass run that is easily secured to a vehicle door flange in the vehicle door opening and includes molded plastic support members to secure the glass run to a door trim panel below the belt line of the door.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Most vehicle doors include a door window that can either be mechanically or electrically lowered into a door well of the door to open a door opening, or raised from the door well to close the door opening in a sealing manner. These types of vehicle doors include a resilient glass run having a glass run channel that the window seats within when it is in a closed position. Different glass run designs are known in the art that allow the window to be repeatedly inserted within and removed from the glass run channel and still maintain an effective seal against environmental conditions such as wind and moisture. A door belt line that includes a flexible sealing member extends across the bottom of the door opening to allow the window to slide through the belt line in a sealing manner as it is being raised and lowered. Portions of both ends of the glass run extend below the belt line of the door to guide the window within the door well when it is in a lowered position.
In modern designs, the glass run includes an outer layer, such as an EPDM rubber, a thermoplastic material or other suitable material, that is extruded onto a rigid metal insert that gives the glass run support and shape. Usually, the insert is a piece of stamped steel or aluminum. The insert enables the glass run to be rigidly secured to a flange extending from stamped door panels along the periphery of the door opening. Because the flange ends at the bottom of the door opening, there is no flange which to secure the glass run to within the door well. Therefore, brackets are generally provided that are secured to the extended portions of the glass run by bolts or the like. The brackets generally include a tab that extends from the glass run that allows the bracket to be secured to an appropriate area of a door trim panel within the door well.
The above described glass run has been generally successful in meeting the demands required by the industry. However, certain disadvantages of these types of glass runs leaves room for improvement. For example, because known glass runs are rigid members and are not readily flexible, they must be stretch bent to the shape of the door opening before being secured to the door flange. However, inconsistencies in the alignment and position of the flange, as well as the thickness of the flange, require that the glass run be further twisted and bent as it is being secured to the door flange. Because the glass run is rigid, such a process has obvious drawbacks when trying to secure the glass run to the door flange. Also, the resulting twisting nature of the glass run may alter the sealing properties of the glass run channel in the glass run.
Further, because a bracket is needed to secure the glass run to the door within the door well, the curvature of the door and the size of the bracket prevents the glass run from being installed to the door as a single piece at the manufacturing level of the vehicle. The rigidity of the brackets of both extended portions prevents the extended portions of the glass run below the belt line from being simultaneously inserted into the door well. Therefore, at least one of the extended portions of the glass run that fits within the door well must be mated to the glass run when it is bolted to the door trim panel.
What is needed is a flexible glass run that can be readily twisted to be secured to the door flange, and includes a support member for supporting the glass run within the door well that allows the glass run to be connected to the door as a single unit. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide such a glass run.